


All In Your Hands

by feminaexlux



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Fluff, Juleka can't handle these idiots, Lbscexchange, Lbscexchange2020, Moving On, Past Relationship(s), Texting, Trains, lukanette endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:06:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22325278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feminaexlux/pseuds/feminaexlux
Summary: I'm on a train to you and it's just not fast enoughEvery second takes an hour and I can't sit still
Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 13
Kudos: 84
Collections: Lovebugs and Snake Charmers





	All In Your Hands

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xxoceanswavesxx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxoceanswavesxx/gifts).



> It's worth it to turn on the work's skin, btw. I just tried to clean up the "texts" lol
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Nothing in his relatively short life had prepared Luka for the hurricane that was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She walked in and out of his life and left his internal thoughts scattered, torn, ripped apart, and flooded, and he wouldn't have it any other way. Sure, there were other girls and guys and _interests_ , but none of them were in remotely the same disorienting magnitude of Marinette.

He didn't show it on the surface. He was the chillest guy people knew, and he decided a long time ago to embody that in whole. He'd be the one to let things go. He'd be the one to let things slide. He'd be generous. Or unaffected. Or non-judgmental, at least. Just someone who understood without getting outraged unless the issue was outrageous. He was the same as he'd been before and after Marinette, except where it mattered. He let her go, because she wanted to go, and he was okay with that. He had just let her go with his heart.

He was now on a one-way train ticket back to Paris, bought _on a whim_ because Marinette had mentioned that she was going home after completing her last university projects. She sent him a text yesterday that everything was finally wrapped up. He took his wallet and his guitar. He'd see if Anarka was moored anywhere near the Boulangerie (if his mom was in France at all), and if not he could probably bum it at Juleka's and Rose’s apartment.

Maybe he could stay at Marinette's.

* * *

_… Where was he?_ Marinette paced around Luka's apartment. Food was put away, the laundry situation looked the same as it ever did, his bedroom was… well, there. She kept telling herself to not enter it without his permission or really, without him but _whoa_ did that take her mind places. Anyway he wasn't there either from the two second scan she made.

He said he'd be "relaxing at home" today? It was near dinnertime and she'd already checked the places he liked going to just in case. He never kept her waiting, that was unfortunately what _she_ did to _him_ , and yet he never resented it. _Oh no, did he…?_ She texted Juleka. Maybe he got tired of waiting and found someone. Maybe Marinette hadn't been ready in time. But maybe he just went out for a walk. She didn't want to ruin the surprise just yet, but she also had that nagging feeling that she needed to ask his sister for help.

hey juleka!  
heard from luka recently?

The indicator that Juleka was typing bounced in the bottom left corner of her screen.

ya, y  
ur timng is hmmmm  
wats up

do you know where luka is?

?

Juleka never gave her any meaningful details over text. Marinette still had a hard time drawing out any information out of the generally reserved fashion model.

he's not at home :(

omfg r u in lyon mar  
lu is on train goin 2cu in paris!!!

Oh. Well, that was that.

Soooo Marinette had cheated a little bit and asked Kaalki for a bit of a… shortcut. She'd finished up everything she had to for Uni (she hoped), had some promising leads on some agencies and design houses she could work with, packed up most of her things, and came back home to Paris to store them "temporarily" in "her" attic room on the top of the bakery. She had decided after seeing close friends that she should, just _casually_ , drop in on one of her best/closest/cutest friends to maybe have a bottle of wine with some complementing dishes and maybe have that discussion on if they'd wanted something more… official between them and tell him that she finally decided that yes she'd love to see where they go together now that her future was secure-ish.

He'd had the same idea to drop in on _her,_ maybe? Yeah, that sounded like Luka. Darn that man, always listening to the whims of his un-fickle heart.

don't tell luka I came by!!!

mar wat r u doin  
wtf ur supposd 2 b in parisss

Um, well, that was true. She did tell her parents and all local friends that she'd be out for some hours to visit everyone. Some special friends happened to be 2 hours by express train away in Lyon (or instantly via a handful of oats to the Transportation kwami). A special friend that was _supposed_ to be in Lyon. Oh no, when did he leave? Was he looking for her right now? Marinette had more or less popped straight into his apartment with a basket of food and drink in her excitement to see him as soon as she could. She probably should have told him her plans. Not that there was one in the first place.

* * *

ur girl in lyon

Luka looked at his phone. It was a text message from Jules. "My girl?" He asked out loud. The cabin he was in was relatively sparse and he was able to sit his guitar down in the seat beside him.

Who?

omfg lu  
u 2 desrve echoter

Seriously though who

who ru on train 4???  
a;dsjfk;lk  
marinette in lyon lmfao

Wait. What? Oh, oh no. Marinette… was in Lyon? So much for his surprise.

Wait. _Why?_ Why did she go off to Lyon? … Was it to go see him? He was probably assuming. There was a branch of her school there, after all. She told him that's why she stopped by his place so often. Maybe she wasn't quite done with her University projects after all. Well, dang. Okay, so… he'd just… chill in Paris. It wasn't a problem. He'd be fine, just fine.

Wait. Juleka had called Marinette _his_ girl?

While there… had been an attempt at seeing if he could recover from Hurricane Marinette, and for a while it had worked, it was never something he put much effort into for some reason. She may have been outside of his life for 2ish years, but not really though since they were regular texting/video chat buddies. He had moved down to Lyon because well, Paris was incredibly unaffordable, Juleka had moved in with Rose, and Anarka had been itching for an overseas adventure again since she no longer had to hassle her kids to go to school.

Then they had come across each other in Lyon at last year's music festival when he was playing with his band. She shouted out his name from the audience. Out of all the cheering voices, hers cut through and hit him straight in the heart like an arrow. He had known where she was instantly and met her pretty blue eyes. She had looked up at him with that incredible smile with pure joy and he knew he was falling hard in love all over again. He was okay with that.

She had run up to hug him, kissing him on the cheek in greeting after his band wrapped up. They had spent the rest of the day and night together hanging out, having dinner, talking, catching up, and sharing their creative works until she dozed off on his couch. Ever since then she had been dropping by pretty much once a week to hang out even though her main schooling was in Paris.

Was Luka going to fall for Juleka's bait? Yes, yes he was.

Why'd you call her that

asdfl;kjasdf  
ask y shes there dummy

Okay, why is she in Lyon?

omfg ask herrrrrrrrr

That would probably be best. But he also felt himself get nervous in realizing he'd have to explain why he wasn't in Lyon when he told her he'd be at home. He probably should have given her a heads up that he was going to Paris.

I hear you're in Lyon?

whaa? noo, no I'm not…  
ugh ok *maybe* I am  
where are you?

On a train to Paris

oh when are you arriving?

In 30 minutes

Time to take a gamble.

I wanted to see you

* * *

Marinette looked at her phone and blushed. She knew it was silly to blush at this point since Juleka had all but admitted Luka's intentions to her, but Luka had never failed to make her feel warm inside with his directness. Her phone started ringing and she noticed that it was Adrien. She picked up.

"Hi Adrien!"

"Hey Marinette. I wanted to congratulate you on graduating."

"Aw, thanks. How are you?"

"I'm doing alright, how are you?"

Their recent conversations usually started like this. A polite rote gesture back and forth and then Adrien would give a quick update about London and wrap up the call.

It had been a few years since Marinette and Adrien had tried their hands at a romantic relationship, but after the downfall of Gabriel Agreste and Hawkmoth, Adrien had withdrawn from the public life and his aunt in London had taken guardianship over the shaken 17 year old. He had also wanted nothing to do with fashion after that… so it was a little awkward when Marinette was still dreaming to be a fashion designer.

Adrien stayed in London with the family he had left after he turned 18, though with Kaalki Marinette was still able to see him often. But he just wasn't the same, wasn't the same kitty anymore. He ultimately broke it off after 10 exhausting months, telling her that he wasn't in any state of mind to deal and that she deserved to be happy with someone else. She had taken a bit to recover and then prepared herself to do just that. It took about 3 years, but it was time.

"Marinette?"

"Oh, sorry. I was… just…" She sighed. "I rushed it and I didn't time it right. Again."

"Let me guess, Luka's not at home?" Adrien giggled but tried to muffle it.

"Nope. I suck at this romance stuff, Kitty."

"Oh come on, Milady. You know you're giving yourself a hard time. Where is he? He's gotta be nearby."

"He's about 300 kilometers away."

"Oh, er, what?"

"He left to come see me. He's heading to Paris now."

Adrien laughed. "Go wait for him there then!"

"Yeah, I will. Hey Adrien? I love you."

"Hey. I love you too, Marinette. Go get him and have your happily ever after, alright?"

Marinette smiled. "I'll do that. Thanks, Adrien. You and Plagg take care, say hello to Amelie and Felix for me." She grabbed a handful of oats from her bag after hanging up and offered some to Kaalki. "I jumped the gun, but I can try again. Let's go back home, okay?"

Kaalki whinnied happily and ate the oats. "Oh, of course darling, it'll be a cinch."

* * *

She didn't text him back. That… was… not promising. Luka sighed and shook his head.

Maybe next time

_Maybe next time._ Luka stared at his phone. 20 minutes left until the train would stop in Gare de Lyon in Paris. He rummaged around his guitar case's side pocket to find earphones. He plugged in and started scrolling through a playlist when he got a call from Marinette.

"Hi—"

"Hi Luka! This time works. I'll meet you at the station in 20 minutes, is that alright?" _Wait. What?_ "Hall 2, right?"

"Y-yeah. I thought you were in Lyon?"

"I said maybe!" She giggled. Well, okay, that was amazing news. Juleka must have just gotten bad info or something. "Hall 2, got it. I'm so excited you came up!"

"Surprise. Congratulations on finishing up school."

"Thank you!" She laughed and it was a beautiful sound ringing in his ear. "I'm so glad everything's over. Do you have time to come to the bakery?"

Since he really had no plan at all, he did. "Sure. See you soon."

The remainder of the time passed by both quickly and anxiously slow. Luka needed something to do with his hands and it seemed rude to pull out his guitar and start noodling, so he texted Juleka and tried to make her feel bad about freaking him out over Marinette. Then his sister sent a screenshot of her texts with Marinette.

How… _did_ Marinette know he wasn't at home? He was pondering that as the train slowed to a stop and he stepped out into the station.

"Luka!" He turned just in time to see Marinette make a running leap at him. She threw her arms around his shoulders after he caught her and kissed him on the cheek, the same heart thumping maybe-more-than-friendly-gesture she did back at the rock festival. "You went back to blue?" She asked, gently stroking a lock of hair over his ear. He was probably blushing madly at this point.

"The band said neon green wasn't my color," he laughed.

"I've always loved the blue," she said fondly. "Are you hungry? We could—" There was a deafening clatter and the entire station fell silent. People looked toward the source, but neither Luka nor Marinette could see what happened. Then there was a piercing scream and people hurriedly ran away from the noise. "Really?" Marinette sighed, exasperated at the now visible black and purple goo that dissolved and left behind some garishly dressed akuma victim with a neon purple butterfly outline hovering inches in front of their face. " _Now,_ Butterfly?"

Luka didn't think about why Marinette seemed more annoyed than scared about an akuma attack, but he took her hand and ran them both away from the akuma, who started turning people into clockwork men and women with a steampunk ray gun. "I thought Hawkmoth was defeated!" Luka shouted, ducking into an empty alcove with lockers.

"I never did find the Butterfly miraculous," Marinette sighed. Luka snapped his head to look at Marinette in confusion. She reached into her shorts pocket and pulled out a silver bracelet. "I might need your help again," she said softly, offering him the bracelet.

"You're… you're Ladybug?"

She smiled up at Luka as a pink thing with dots on its head appeared. "Tikki? Meet Luka. Luka, this is Tikki, my kwami."

"Hi Luka! It's nice to finally talk with you," Tikki giggled. "But we should act now, Marinette!"

"Right. Tikki, spots on!" A pink flash later and Ladybug was in front of Luka, still holding out the bracelet.

"M—Ladybug… It makes so much sense, god I…" Luka stopped himself from talking and took the bracelet, reprising his role as Viperion. "I'll help."

Ladybug hugged him and held him tight, and he returned the hug. "Sorry to have to do this. But thank you."

* * *

The news of Hawkmoth(?)'s and Ladybug's return with a new (previous?) hero hit the airwaves pretty quickly after the akuma was defeated and the victim turned back to normal. After getting back to their civilian selves and Luka scrambling to get his guitar from the lockers before it got stolen, Marinette got pinged with several texts from Alya. One missed call from Adrien. Marinette would deal with that later.

Luka came back with his guitar safely in tow and they walked together down to the subways. "Are you sure you want me keeping this?" Luka asked nervously, fiddling with the silver band around his left wrist.

Marinette smiled. "Keep it for as long as you want to. I've trusted you since we were teens, Luka."

He blushed and coughed to hide it. "Where's Chat?" He asked quietly when they stopped to wait for their connecting ride to the bakery. They were more or less by themselves in the waiting area, only a few others scattered throughout.

"Adrien's in London," Marinette replied in the same quiet tone.

Luka blinked wide eyes in shock. "Adrien… is. You know you don't have to tell me everything, Marinette."

"No, no, I wanted to. I realized that the whole secret identities thing worked against me when I was younger, at least between miraculous holders. I should be able to know and reach out to the team when something like this happens. I… it was hard for me and Adrien when we didn't know."

"How's he doing?" Luka asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"He's doing better, but… with Gabriel, it was difficult to say the least."

"Must have been. Let him know he can reach out to me if he wants to." Luka had to know. "Are... You two…?" And yet he was unable to finish that sentence.

"We love each other as best friends do. But we haven't been romantically involved for years."

Luka still hesitated. "Is that something you want to change?"

"I've always felt more comfortable being Adrien's friend. That's how I'll stay," Marinette said simply. She was absolutely certain. "Anyway, I have dinner waiting for us back at the bakery!" She took Luka's hand and pulled him along when their train arrived.

Luka held her back. "Wait." Marinette turned around and looked up at Luka, slight worry on her face. A slew of questions crowded in his head, but he was able to focus on one in particular. "Do you need me here?"

She tilted her head to the side, her free hand going to one of her two low hairbuns in an anxious gesture. "I… don't know what you mean?"

"This new Hawkmoth. I'm probably not useful down in Lyon."

Marinette's eyes went wide. "Oh, no, oh no, I didn't even… I-I-I don't want to... I didn't mean to pressure you to move or anything, crap. I… just." She rested her forehead against his chest. "I didn't really think this through. I'm sorry."

"Honestly, I… didn't either. I don't even have a return ticket to Lyon. I... really just wanted to see you," Luka admitted, his face feeling hot.

"I can get you back home with my, um, teleportation kwami," Marinette suggested, looking back up at him with a light blush. Okay well, _that_ explained a few things.

"That's not what I mean," Luka continued, still embarrassed. He sighed, watching their train depart. They were the only two left in the waiting area. "I'm just a dumbass, Marinette." She tilted her head back, furrowed her eyebrows, and frowned up at him. Before she could say anything Luka explained. "I'm a dumbass because I bought a one way ticket here to see you without thinking about what happens after, and maybe hoping that I... didn't have to go back on my own. I wanted to know if any part of you was at all interested in me. For the past year it killed me that you couldn't stay longer when you visited me in Lyon. If you feel like you _could_ give me a chance, then… I'll stay or I'll be wherever you want me to be. Go wherever you go. Because I want to be with you, Marinette. I'm not making the same mistake again, I'm not walking away from this until I get an answer."

"Is it because I'm Ladybug?" Marinette asked quietly.

"No. That you are… well, it does make a difference. I want to be here even more. For you." Luka paused when Marinette was staring up at him, an unreadable expression on her face. "Just… tell me to shut up and go away and I'll do that—"

She grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him down, a quick press of her lips on his. She put her hands along his jaw and kissed him again, longer and harder. She wove her fingers through his long hair and kissed him a third time, parting her lips and his and taking his breath away.

She pulled back slightly, resting back on her feet from having rocked up on her toes to meet him. She had a small smile that she hid by biting her lip. She wiped a thumb over the corner of his mouth where her pink lipstick smeared. "Pink's not a bad color on you," she laughed.

Luka had frozen in place when she pulled him down, stunned. He blinked as time sped up around him and placed him back into the real. He put his hand on top of hers, which had lingered against his cheek. "So. I guess I don't need to leave?"

"S-stay with me. Just…" Marinette hadn't stuttered in a long while. Huh. "I'm… wh-what about your band?"

"They'll be fine." Honestly, he didn't care at the moment.

"What about your ap-apartment?" He shrugged, continuing to not care. "Luka!" He bent down to kiss her again. He turned them slightly to press her up against a wall. "What—" He kissed her again. "Mmm—" Marinette had moaned softly. Now that was too much. He went to kiss her again but she put her fingers in between them. "Dinner. Dinner first."

"Dinner after."

She pouted. "I'm hungry!"

"So am I," he grinned. "I could eat you—"

"Less interruptions if we eat first," Marinette said, incredibly pink.

He sighed. "Until the next train. Then after dinner."

She rested her head on his shoulder. "Hey Luka," she whispered.

"Hey."

"Thanks for waiting for me. And coming here."

"I'm a firm believer of taking second chances."

**Author's Note:**

> _Yeah it's all in your hands and it feels so beautiful_   
>  _Now you can lay them on me as much as you like_
> 
> Lamb - All in Your Hands


End file.
